No Ireneaus of Lyon

Until Ireneaus' Adverses Haereses, Christianity had yet to have cemented many of the traits which it is defined by today, including, among many others, embracing the Old Testament as a cultural legacy and a source of theological truth, honoring the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as canonical, the doctrine of apostolic succession, the unity of God and his will, and the idea that humanity is undergoing a cosmic process of maturation through learning of sin and salvation.

Needless to say, without a unifying work such as this, early Christianity may have continued to diverge. But what is interesting is that Adverses Haereses effectively reversed the trend of Gnosticim subverting Christian thought.

What would the development of Mediterranean Christianity have looked like if Gnosticism was a defining aspect of the religion? Would it have reversed direction and spread West, as it did in OTL, or would the ongoing trend of East-ward movement have continued? Gnosticism is easily reconcilable with certain Buddhist and Hindu sects, as well as already being important in Persia and Mesopotamia.

What would Western Europe look like without Christianity, or an almost unrecognizable form of it? How likely is Gnostic Christianity to have become dominant in Persia and Central Asia?

Roberto said:

What would Western Europe look like without Christianity, or an almost unrecognizable form of it? How likely is Gnostic Christianity to have become dominant in Persia and Central Asia?

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So the question here is, can Gnostic Christianity produce a state-friendly model? The closest we get to that is Manichean Turcs, who later switched to Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. Otherwise, Gnostics never did subvert state power, which all the successful religions did.

RGB said:

So the question here is, can Gnostic Christianity produce a state-friendly model? The closest we get to that is Manichean Turcs, who later switched to Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. Otherwise, Gnostics never did subvert state power, which all the successful religions did.

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So what if we do have a flourishing of Manichaeism in the Mediterranean? Interestingly, it was considered the Soldiers' Religion in the Roman Empire, and a lot of emperors came from military backgrounds. What are the odds that without a Christianity overtaking Gnostic thought that an Emperor could declare Manichaeism the state religion? Or, at the very least, make it more accepted in the Empire and encourage its spread top-down?